Strike a pose: How the way you stand can make you more successful

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LONDON (CNN) — Imagine your boss as a caveman.

He’s running across the Savannah — chasing Palaeolithic game with a rock, wearing only a loincloth.

He spots you and halts! Assuming a defensive position, his eyes carefully scan you for signs: Are you friend or foe?

The verdict takes seconds for him to reach, and with no verbal language to inform him, his decision is based primarily on your body language.

Believe it or not, this is similar to what happens in office environments around the world, every day.

The power of body language

“In the first few seconds of meeting someone, they will determine whether you are friend or predator, and the rest of the time their brains will be gathering information to support that,” says Mark Bowden, author of Winning Body Language.

“In business, first impressions are crucial,” says Carol Kinsey Goman, international speaker and author of The Silent Language of Leader. “Once someone mentally labels you likeable or un-likeable, powerful or submissive, everything else you do will be viewed through that filter. If someone likes you, she’ll look for the best in you. If she doesn’t like you, or mistrusts you, she’ll suspect devious motives in all your actions.”

In a recent MIT study by Dr. Alex Pentland, researchers using a “sociometer” to measure unconscious nonverbal signals between people — found that body language can predict the outcome of interactions such as job interviews, dating, negotiations, etc., with an average accuracy of 80 percent.

According to Pentland, this channel of communication was started among our ancestors long before the evolution of language itself.

In what is likely the most cited study on body language, Dr. Albert Mehrabian found that in determining our perception of someone else’s likeability, their body language –appearance, posture, gesture, touch, facial expression, eye contact, and tone of voice — accounts for 93 percent of the communication, while words account for only 7 percent.

While this study is seen as limited in its scope — experts say there is little doubt that body language is the major piece of data, upon which we determine our perception of other.

And, that it is particularly important in communicating feelings and attitudes.

“Body language has everything to do with whether you have leadership presence or leadership potential,” says Goman.

“If anything you do has an emotional component — particularly when leading change, negotiating, and so on — your body language is communicating most of that for you.”

“If you really want someone to listen to you — you need to make it into their friend category,” says Bowden.

“They will listen to you more carefully, and they will look for positive things.”

The trouble with body language of course, is that we are often unaware of what we are doing — and may be sabotaging our most important messages.

“You may be slouching because you’re tired, but people read it as a sign of disinterest,” says Goman.

“You may be more comfortable standing with your arms folded across your chest — or you may be cold — but others see you as resistant and unapproachable.”

Body language vs speech

In one University of Colgate study, neuroscientists who studied the effects of hand gestures related to speech — found that when a speakers gestures do not match what is being said — our brains dip into a valley dubbed N400 — the same dip that occurs when people listen to nonsensical language.

That said, there is a way to make your own inner caveman work to your advantage.

In one Harvard study, people who took on a power pose — such as an expansive superman-like position — for just two minutes before a job interview, raised their testosterone levels, lowered their stress hormone cortisol — and as a result performed better and were more likely to be hired, then people who took on more contractive, low-power poses.

The powerful pose

It also increased people’s willingness to take risks — thereby making them seem more confident.

So, assuming a powerful position not only changes others perception of you — but your perception of yourself.

The key to using this trick in any situation — where the superman pose might not be appropriate — is to take up more space.